My official Prius mods thread.

Well, after seeing the pics on the Sigma site and a few other places, I decided that I'll be getting the Kenstyle body kit for my Prius. I just like the way it looks.

I may try to install my strut tower brace tomorrow also...

 

Well, I got the strut bar mounted today. It was actually easier than I thought. Took about an hour from popping the hood to washing my hands. Thank goodness for Toyota Techinfo though. I got a 1 month subscription last night, and I plan on printing out the entire set of documents eventually.

Anyway, I was going to do a photo step-by-step, but I didn't have my digital camera, it was in the wife's car... So you'll have to do with some finished pictures and a text write-up only.

First, I HIGHLY recommend that you get the Techinfo subscription. It is invaluable in figuring out where all the clips, bolts, and so on are. Worth the price!

So here goes:

1. Remove cap covering bolt on driver's side wiper and remove bolt. Unscrew the two black bolts on the passenger's side wiper. Now grab the wiper and pull at an angle. THe wiper arms are press fit on the studs, and you need to free them. Prying them up is not an option becuase it's all soft plastic underneath them. Simply pull at an angle, and they should pull off very easily. Set aside.

2. Open hood. Unclip the rubber weather strip from the front edge of the plastic cowl (8 clips). First the driver's side cowl will be removed. At the very edge is a plastic pin. Push up from underneath to get the pin to pop out. Now just grab the cowl and wiggle and pull towrds you and it should come right off. Repeat for the passenger side. Set aside.

3. Wiper motor. First unplug the motor wiring from the harness. Remove the 5 bolts and lift the entire wiper motor assembly out. Set aside.

4. Last step! Unscrew the two bolts from the realy box on the front of the black metal panel that was under the wiper motor. This is for easier access later. Remove the seven bolts holding the metal tray on. Two on each side and three along the middle. Do not try and remove the tray, as the harness is attached to it. Simply rotate it towards you to reach the three bolts.

5. Here comes the instgallation. Unscrew the three bolts on each shock tower. Put the corresponding bracket on each strut tower and replace the three bolts. Tighten. Halfway done!

6. Now flip the black tray back. Bolt on the relay box again. Place the strut bar oto the two brackets. It fits only one way, as the realy box is in the way. It is easier to screw the relay box back on to make sure you put the bar on correctly. Now once you are sure it's on right, put a bolt through each side. The bolt goes on from the back and the nut goes on the front. Insert an 8mm allen wrench into the bolt and tighten. Don't forget the washers!

7. Now reinstall each piece as it was removed. For the wipers, place the arms over the studs loosely and hold it in the right place on the windshield. Now screw on each bolt as you hold the wiper arm in the correct place.

8. Celebrate and take pictures. Then get out and DRIVE!



That's it. Here are the pictures:

Pic 1: Installed!
Pic 2: Clearance to relay box. Cover still comes off...
Pic 3: Passenger side.
Pic 4: Driver's side.
Pic 5: Follows countour perfectly.

 

One thing you should know, the rear lower brace and the floor brace may not fit without swapping out the factory exhaust for the Tom's exhaust. The Tom's website is rather vague, but that is what it suggests. Anyhow, if you're getting these, I'll wait until you install them to see, and then I'll order the exhaust if needed.

 

Oh, nearly forgot...

I need to post my driving experience with the strut bar!

Anyhow, I can;t really quantify how much it helped, as I'm not sure how much I actually feel or what I expected and imagine I feel.

So far it seems to help. The front end feels like it's one solid block now. There is absolutely no vagueness at all in the front now. I imagine once the rear is reinforced the car will feel completely different.

At freeway speeds the car is now rock solid up to 90 mph. There is no wiggle, no wandering, nothing. I took my hands of the wheel and it tracked straight as an arrow even at 80. There is no vagueness at all in the steering or handling now.

In the slower but twistier stuff, it feels more precise now. The front suspension is really doing all the work now, instead of the car itself flexing a bit. It really brings out hte shortcomings of the factory suspension. Then again, this is not exactly a performance car, so I won't fault it for not holding up to the workout I've been putting it through.

Now, I must say that as far as I'm concerned this does indeed help. HOWEVER, if you are an average Prius driver and your goal is maximum mileage and not handling, then skip it (most of you would anyway). If you wan't this little hot rod to have beter handling, you can't go wrong.

Prius GT, here I come! (Now I just need that TRD ECU!)

 

No, there is no space underneath the black metal plate. It is really cramped in there; the Prius is a small car, and certain design compromises had to be made. It is exposed, but I don't think the integrity of the brace is really questionable. First, the parts are pretty hefty. Second, the Prius is a light car, so any forces exerted on the brace is much less than that compared to a much heavier car. I think the brace is more than sufficient for the duties it is expected to perform. All the brace needs to do is kee the tops of the shock toweres from moving in reltion to each other, and I think it will do tha job just fine.

Anyhow, I think judging the actual effectiveness will be harder to tell with each successive part that is added. On its own, each part probably helps quite a bit, but once you start adding more, it gets harder to tell just howmuch it's helping. I don't think the effects are cumulative, but rather complementary, with each part helping the others.

I think if it is done like SaeGai06 is doing it, and installing all at once, I imagien the difference will be huge! Doing things in small increments always makes it harder to judge. Best way would be to get a stock 2006 and do back to back testing.

 

If you have the time, read this whole thread. I have the BT brace, the Tom's lower suspension brace, and the Tom's strut tower bar, and wrote my impressions of each one. Each has helped in some way, and I do not regret spending the money or spending the timt to put them on.

The floor brace and rear suspension brace are next (see post #1 for all the parts I'm planning).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Mar 30 2006, 12:15 PM) [snapback]232406[/snapback]</div>

Well, that's actually a tough answer.

The lower is easier in theory. Loosen two bolts, put brace in, tighten nuts on brace, tighten the two bolts, and you're done. OF course this is all happening UNDER the car which is low to begin with. Jacking it up is a pain. If you have a lift, it'd be much easier. Plus one of the two bolts has minimal clearance with the oil pan...

The top brace, on the other hand has MANY more steps, but are individually much easier to do. More tediuos by far, but also much "simpler."

So which would I say is easier? Physically, the top brace. Mentally the bottom brace.

Now if the actual work is not the issue, then it comes down to which is more beneficial. Yes, you are right in saying that the lower seems to be better, but I never got a chance to test the top by itself. But I do think the bottom did more individually.

 

Well, I just ordered a set of aluminum lugs. I figure I'll just try them out for a while and see how they do. I'm going to keep a full set of the stock steel lugs with me, and check the Al lugs frequently to see how they hold up. I'll also keep my torque wrench with me to check to make sure they aren't looseing up on me. I'll report back on how they do...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dr Rocket @ Apr 4 2006, 09:59 AM) [snapback]234641[/snapback]</div>

Read posts #103 and #125, that's where I go over my experiences. There is another post where I list my sources for all the parts...